A few decades ago I had a conversation about food with the manager of a center where I was offering a retreat. He told me he tried to provide as much organic food as possible for retreatants because he thought people doing the hard work of spiritual growth deserved the best sustenance. At the time my response—though I didn’t offer it to him—was (and is) that those of us fortunate enough to have found spiritual practice are more than compensated for any efforts by the sheer blessing of practice itself.
These many years later I find myself in relationship with spiritual practice and organic food, but with a broader focus: Decades of research has shown us what dedication to mass-producing cheap food has done to our planet and to our own bodies.
At the Zen Monastery Peace Center in particular, and throughout practice when possible, we remind ourselves that “everything is the Buddha.” We are One. We, and every “thing,” are each and all cells in the body of the Buddha. It doesn’t always feel that way, but a quick trip through all that sustains us—the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat—shows us the interconnectedness of all Life.
With this awareness, every morsel of organically grown food that can be found we buy to serve to those coming for retreat. It is an outrageously expensive commitment that we are happy to make and keep because everything is the Buddha.
How we care for anything is how we care for everything. How we care for everything is how we care for the wisdom, love, and compassion that animates us.
As we note often, we are very fortunate. Caring for what cares for us is a simple, powerful way to say thank you for all we receive.
In gassho,
Cheri